[Spirographic reference values. Mathematical models and practical use (author's transl)]

Various models predicting VC and FEV1 from age and height have been compared by both theoretical and practical approaches on several subgroups of a working population examined in 1960 and 1972. The models in which spirographic values are proportional to the cube of the height give a significantly worse fit of the data. All the other models give similar predicted values in practical terms, but cutoff points depend on the distributions of VC and FEV1 given age and height. Results show that these distributions are closer to a normal than to a lognormal distribution. The use of reference values and classical cutoffs is then discussed. Rather than using a single cutoff point, a more quantitative way is proposed to describe the subjects' functional status, for example by situating him in the percentile of the reference population. In screening, cutoff points cannot be choosen without specifying first the decision considered and the population concerned.